In Spine-Chilling Video, Man Rescues King Cobra From Well With Bare Hands

Most of us would get into a flight or fight response if we come across a snake, and that too a snake as dangerous as a king cobra. Now a video is raking in likes that shows a young man bravely catching a king cobra from a well. The young man simply reaches out near the shallow well’s surface and catches the venomous snake with his hands. The snake tries to attack the man but he keeps calm and tactfully holds the massive snake by its tail, keeping the snake’s fang away from himself. This video has so far gathered over six lakh likes. It was posted online by Instagram user Sagar Patil. Patil has over 89,000 Instagram followers. He often posts videos of himself rescuing or handling snakes.

It is interesting to note that all snakes can swim, and king cobras in particular are very good swimmers. They can also hunt prey in water and are often seen crossing rivers and ponds. It appears that the snake was not at the immediate risk of drowning but Patil might have grabbed it out of the well so that the snake does not risk those who use the well. It is unclear if Patil has received any training in handling snakes. Experts always advise people to maintain distance between snakes, especially poisonous or venous snakes, and seek professional help in relocating them.

A post shared by Sagar Patil (@sagarpatil1237)

This is not the only video that shows people handling snakes with their bare hands. Back in November, a video from Karnataka’s Udupi district went viral that showed Sudheendra Aithal, a well-known animal and snake rescuer from the region catching a python. In the video, Aithal seeks the help of his 12-year-old son Dheeraj to catch the python and put it in a bag, so that they could later release it back into the wild. This video was taken in Saligrama, a town in Udupi, where Aithal lives.

Even as this video gathered hundreds of likes, many people highlighted that young kids should not handle snakes. Making this point, an X user wrote, “Kid was lucky and snake had a sympathy towards that kid, way kid approaching to snakehead was very dangerous and all the adults were enjoying and encouraging such a stupid act by innocent kid god saved him this time. Though it’s nonvenomous he would have lost hand or fingers.”